Spinocerebellar Ataxia
by PolarisesKiss
Summary: “No cure? What do you mean no cure? So my daughter's going to die like this?” - Rewrite of "A Name and A Home" - Aiko is Matt and Mello's world but what happens when she is diagnosed with a slow and deadly disease?
1. A Sickness

~Mello: A Sickness

"The disease is called Spinocerebellar Ataxia. It's a tricky disease, it not common in teen." The doctor picked up a few cat scans and placed them against the light, "You see this area here? This is the part of the brain that is connected to the spin. Through this connection is where all the messages enter and leave the brain. Some times these two objects aren't connected properly and this causes problems with daily tasks. The disease will progress and soon simple things such as writing, picking up the phone, or brushing her hair will be almost impossible for Aiko."

I stared at the pictures of Aiko's brain as then hung against the light. Why was this happening?"

"There's a cure though, right? What is it? Surgery? Medication?" Matt squeezed his hands together until his knuckles turned white.

"I'm afraid that there has been no discovery of an actual cure. There—"

"No cure? What do you mean no cure? So my daughters going to die like this?"

"Matt!" I yelled. The red head looked at him with the saddest eyes I have ever seen. I placed my hand over his, "Let him finish."

"There are treatments. It's best for you a patient of this disease to maintain as much independence as possible, so canes, walkers, and wheelchairs will be needed later on. Aiko will need to take therapy classes to maintain her senses of direction and ability to walk on her own."

"What do we do now?" I chocked out trying to stay strong enough for Matt.

"Well, the timing of the diseases symptoms is not the same for all patience. You told me before that Aiko was always very clumsy and she would trip and fall randomly, correct? When we fall its normal for us to place our hands out in front of us to protect ourselves from the impact. However, soon Aiko will fall and her brain wont receive the message to send her hands out in front of her to braise herself. A simple thing like this could cause a serious injury, so just keep an eye on her and notify me if anything changes."

"(o.o)"

Matt held tightly onto my hand as we sat quietly in his car. It's been about 15 minutes since we arrived in the parking lot of the apartment building. Matt hasn't looked at me or said a word since we left the hospital.

I decided to break the silence, "Matt lets go inside, I don't want to leave Aiko's alone."

Matt continued to stare straight ahead as he mumbled, "You go. I'll be up in a bit."

I stared at his blank face for a while before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. I released his hand as I opened the car door and headed for the stairs. I haven't seen Matt this depressed in a long time…

"_Aiko its time for school! You're going to be late if you don't get your butt up." I shouted through Aiko's room door. I stood there for a second and listened. Nothing, I couldn't hear a thing. Was she still asleep?_

"_Aiko you better not still be asleep!" I shouted as I opened her room door._

_Aiko was curled up into a little ball on her bed, holding her stomach tightly. She looked up at me and I could see the pain in her eyes, "Dad, my stomach hurts really bad." Just then she covered her mouth and ran past me to the bathroom. I could hear her vomiting into the toilet._

"_Matt!" I yelled as I ran into the bathroom and found Aiko still vomiting into the toilet. I pulled her black hair back so it wouldn't get dirty and rubbed her back as her body wanted to throw up more._

"_Matt!" I screamed towards the open bathroom door._

_Matt came running in and yelled, "What? —" His eyes fell onto the pale Aiko that was clenching to the toilet for dear life._

"_Get the car." I ordered as I turned my attention back to Aiko. Matt wasn't moving so I got his attention, "Hey! Matt! Get the car, now!"_

_Matt finally looked at me then nodded before her spun around and ran out the door to find his keys._

"_Aiko, are you okay? Where does it hurt?" I asked nervously._

_Aiko said nothing but wrapped her arms around her stomach as she closed her eyes and whimpered in pain._

_Shit._

_I pulled Aiko into my arms and carried her out of the room. Where the hell was Matt? I kicked the front door open and walked as fast as I could down the stairs and into the parking lot. Matt had already pulled the car to the end of the stairs and was waiting for us._

"_Help me get her in." I said as he opened the back car door. I handed her to him then got it, "Pass her to me."_

_After we got her in the car Matt slammed the door closed and ran to the drivers side. He shifted the car into gear and sped off._

"_(o.o)"_

_By the time we reached to hospital Aiko had thrown up again and was barely aware of what was going on around her. We ran into the building and Matt grabbed the first wheelchair he could see. We practically ran the emergency room and checked Aiko in. The second the nurse looked at her she told us to go in._

_They took a blood sample and told us she needed surgery; her appendix was about to explode. We couldn't be in there with her so we were put out in the hall to sit on those damn plastic chairs, that's where we are now._

"_She'll be okay Matt, she's strong. It's a simple surgery that these doctors have done dozens of times." I tried to reassure him._

_Matt just stayed staring at the doors that led into the operation room._

_An hour past before the doctor came out, "Aiko is going to be okay, the surgery was a success. If you would kindly follow me I can show you to her room."_

_We both followed silently as the doctor showed us her room and left us alone. Matt was still clenching onto my hand as we walked over to Aiko. She lay asleep. I stayed quiet as Matt slowly began to cry._

I took a deep breath before opening the door to our apartment. The second I opened the door Aiko turned to me from the couch and smiled, "Hey dad! What did the doctor say?" she looked around me then asked, "Where's Matty?"

I froze. I tried to open my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Say something Mello, say anything.

"I'm right here sweetie, "

I was surprised to head Matt's voice.

"The doctor didn't say anything special but he did mention something about eating healthier. Guess that means no more chips."

His voice was so comforting.

"Awww, you're kidding right? I'm as healthy as a horse and I always eat the healthy stuff."

Why couldn't I move?

"Alright, alright. We'll let you slide this one time. Right Mello?" Matt turned to look at me.

Smile Mello, nothings wrong, "Yeah but you better make it up to us by raising that C you have in Biology to a B at least."


	2. Denial or Acceptance?

~Matt:

"Why is this happening Mello?" I whispered as I turned off the lights in our room. Mello climbed into bed and sighed.

"She's only 15 years old." I continued as I walked to the bed, "She hasn't even tried to sneak out of the house to meet her friends and possibly a boy friend yet! She hasn't even lived Mel's, so why now? Why her?"

"Matt, complaining is not going to help her get better at all, so shut the hell up." Mello snapped.

I crawled under the blankets. It was quiet for a while.

"Mello."

I could hear him growl from under the blanket, "What?"

"Are we going to tell her?"

I left him speechless. I even left myself speechless. Would it be best for Aiko if we told her now? Would she accept it? Would she ever accept it? Could we accept it? SO many questions and no one is here to answer them.

"We'll tell her when the time is right." Mello said quietly, "She's strong. She gets that from me of course."

'When the time is right.'? Will the time ever be right?

I turned to my side and stared at the dark wall. A high school sophomore shouldn't have to worry herself with death right now. This is wrong. What about this God Mello prays to? Where is he? Isn't he supposed to be protecting the weak? Is a 15 year old not weak enough for him? Is she not good enough for him? —

"_Daddy! Daddy!" Aiko ran to me out of breath._

"_What baby?" I asked putting down my bowl of cereal._

"_Daddy! Golden jumped out of his bowl and I tried to catch him to put him back but then he jumped and I got scared so I stepped on him! Daddy is he going to be okay?" She clanged to my shirt tighter with every word that left her mouth._

"_You stepped on him?" I can't believe she stepped on him!_

"_Daddy come help me!" She cried as she let go of my shirt and ran off into the living room._

_I stood up and walked into the empty room behind her. There was a pool of water on the floor and Golden, Aiko's fish, was lying on the floor. He was flat and his guts where coming out of his stomach._

_Aiko leaned down and was about to touch it when I stopped her by putting my hand on her head. She looked up and me and I shook my head 'no'. I kneeled down to her level and looked at the fish._

"_Baby, Golden died." I said cautiously._

"'_Died'? What does that mean?" She asked innocently._

_She was so young and I was about to teach her about death. What was this world coming to?_

"_Aiko, when you stepped on Golden you squished him like a pancake. Gold fish can't be squished or else they'll die. When things die—"_

"_Then go to heaven."_

_I looked back and saw Mello leaning on the doorframe. He pushed himself off the frame and walked towards us, "You see Aiko, when things die their soul goes to God in Heaven. In Heaven all the souls watch over us that are still living and protect us. They are called angels."_

_Aiko's eyes began to water as she looked back down to the fish. "So Golden is an angel now?"_

"_That's right. In fact he's probably watching you now, he's making sure that your okay because now it's his job to protect you."_

"_To protect me?" Aiko asked._

_Mello nodded. He was always good at this type of things. Mello and his religion could easily answer any question that Aiko had._

"_Can I do anything to say sorry for squishing him?" Aiko asked as some tears slipped out her blue eyes._

_Mello rubbed her back to comfort her and looked at me, "We can give him a funeral."_

"Matt." Mello turned towards me put an arm on my shoulder, "Why are you crying?"

Crying…? I blinked and touched my cheek; it was damp and there where still tears slipping from my eyes. Damn.

"What are you talking about Mello? I'm not crying." I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Don't lie to me Matt." He put a hand on my arm, "You have goosebumps, you always get them when you're crying." He moved his hand up my arm and stroked my cheek, "What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong?' Are you honestly asking me that right now? Our daughter has a disease inside of her that will soon kill her and no one on the whole damn world can do anything about it!" I could feel more tears fall down my cheeks as tried to calm myself down, "Mello, we are going to have to burry our daughter before she even gets married."

–_creak._

I snapped my head towards the door. Oh no. "Aiko?"

Footsteps could be heard running down the hall towards Aiko's room and a door slammed closed. I looked at Mello and he looked at me. We simultaneously pulled the blanket off of ourselves before we ran out the door. We walked down the hall and knocked on Aiko's door.

I tried turning the knob but sadly it was locked, "Aiko, let us in."

There was no answer from the inside of the room. Mello and I shared a look before he walked off. I knocked on the door again, "Aiko, please let us in."

Mello re entered the hall way with a key and pushed it into the keyhole. He turned the knob to open the door, "Aiko?"


	3. Denial

Okay, hello.  
For those of you who are reading this I love you, your awesome, and thanks for giving the sotry a chance to satify your MxM needs.  
Something else I would like to add is that (if you havent notied already) every chapeter has a flachback to when Aiko was smaller. I'm not going to write in a specific age, I'll leave that up to your imagination. Also the chapters have a time space between then but there will be some that dont, those are the cliffhangers. If you dont understand me then here: there is about a week that gose by between the end of Chapter 1 and the begining of Chapter 2. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 dont have a time space between them because Chapter 2 was a cliffhanger.  
I hope that wasnt to compicated.

Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

~Mello: Denial

Aiko pulled the covers over her head when she saw us open the door. Matt walked into the room and stared at her. I looked at him then the lump in the bed that was Aiko's body. She heard us; there was no doubt about that. How will she react?

"Aiko, what did you hear?" Matt asked nervously.

Aiko didn't speak or move. It was quiet and the room was dimly light by Aiko's nightlight. She has been afraid of the dark ever since she was little. I noticed Matt staring at me, I gave a questionable look and he gave me a worried one. Guess it's my turn.

"Aiko, come out, we need to talk." I sighed before making my way over to her bed and sat next to her. Matt mimicked my actions by sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

I placed my hand on the part of the blanket that rested on her shoulder, "Aiko, how much did you hear?"

Aiko popped her head out of the blanket and looked at me then Matt. Matt placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair. It was quiet again. These silences have been happening a lot lately.

I glanced up at Matt; he was staring at her intensely.

"I…" Aiko began but then stopped herself.

"What is it baby?" Matt asked in attempt to comfort her.

Aiko looked at Matt, me, then the blanket, "I… I don't want to sleep alone. Can…"

"We'll stay with you." Matt smiled. It amazes me how he can smile so easily, I love his smile.

"We both don't fit on the bed. I'll stay with her. You have work in the morning so go get some rest." I pulled up Aiko's blanket and slid under it as she scooted over, kicking Matt off the bed.

Matt pouted as he saw the two of us cuddling together. His face softened a bit and sighed, "Fine."

Matt bend over and kissed Aiko on her head then kissed me on the cheek. I gave him a reassuring nod and he walked to the door. I watched him as he walked out and slowly closed the door behind him. I turned my attention back to the girl next to me; I wrapped my arm around her and closed her eyes but didn't fall to sleep.

"Do you want to talk?" I asked quietly so I wouldn't startle her.

Aiko took a deep breath but kept her eyes closed, "I don't want to know. At least, not right now."

Fair enough. I closed my eyes and got a bit more comfortable, "Okay but we can talk about something else if you want."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me the story about how you met Matty?"

I count stop my eyes from snapping open. A story? That story? Why? She hasn't asked me to tell that story since…

"_daddy." "Daddy." "Daddy!"_

"_Hm… What?" I tiredly opened my eyes to see tinny Aiko grabbing onto my blanket._

"_Daddy I had a bad dream…" My vision cleared enough for me to see the tears falling down Aiko's rosy cheeks. Why is she crying?_

_I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "I'm sorry Aiko but what did you say?"_

_Aiko sniffed, "I-I had a bad dream."_

_I yawned and pulled her up onto the bed so that she was sitting on my lap. I picked up my phone on the nightstand and flipped it open; the bright light blinded me for a moment. 2:14 am. Great. I closed the phone and put it back on the table face down. I looked at Aiko in the dark and I could tell she was uncomfortable being in the dark room. I lifted Aiko up so she was resting on my shoulder as crept out of the bed and quietly walked to Aiko's room. I crawled into Aiko's bed and laid her down before laying down myself._

"_What was the dream about?" I asked, pulling her close so that she wouldn't feel scared._

"_There was a big red monster chasing after me! He kept telling me to stop so that he could eat me… I don't want to go back to sleep daddy, please don't make me!" Aiko let more tears slip out of her eyes. I whipped her tears away and stoked her hair lightly, "How about I tell you a story to make you feel better?"_

_Aiko thought about it for a second then replied, "Okay."_

_All right, let see, what kinds of stories do little girls like? Princesses, princes, and castles, dragons—Maybe I should keep away from scary mythical creatures. I sighed._

"_Daddy, how about you tell me how you and Matty fist met?" Aiko suggested._

_Duh, a love story. Why didn't I think of that before?_

"_You want to hear how Matt and I first met?" I asked to be sure._

_Aiko smiled and nodded her head._

"_Okay, close your eyes."_

_Aiko smiled and closed her eyes as she got comfortable in my arms. I don't think she's that scared anymore._

I decided not to question why she wanted to hear that story again; she must have her own reasons.

"Okay I'll tell you."

Aiko opened her eyes and smiled, "Really?"

I nodded, "But you have to close your eyes."

Aiko smiled just like she did that one night and closed her eyes. I watched her for a second before starting, "A long time ago when my parents died an old man named Watari found me…"


	4. Tell Her

**Sorry this is kind of late ^^;  
Thanks to you who have read and/or reviewed this story, i loves you all 3**

**btw theres no flashback in this chapter...i souldnt think of one Dx**

* * *

~Matt: Tell Her

I could feel a warm body next to me, cracking my eyes open I saw Aiko asleep next to me. She must have had nightmare or something. I lifted my head to look around the empty room; Mello must be up already. I laid my head back down on the pillow and began to stroke Aiko's hair. Yawn. What time is it? I turned to the bedroom door and saw a certain blond leaning on the doorframe.

"Good morning." He said raising a small piece of chocolate to his pale lips. The poor chocolate bar fell pray to Mello's warm mouth within seconds. "Breakfast is ready so wake her up."

I looked to Aiko as Mello walked away from the bedroom. I don't want to wake her up I guess I have no choice; she had to be at school by seven. —Wait a minute! I jumped out of the bed and grabbed my phone off of the floor.

"Shit!" I yelled and ran to my closet to grab my suit. Damn I'm going to be late!

"Dad?" came a quiet voice from behind me.

I turned my head and saw Aiko sitting up on the bed rubbing her eyes, "Dad, what's wrong?"

"What happened?" Mello yelled as he reappeared in the doorway.

Two sets of eyes stared at me as I was just about to grab my work clothes that I hated so much, "Why the hell didn't you wake me up Mello? I'm going to be late for work!"

Mello rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, "I already called your job. I told them you have the flu and wouldn't be able to make it in today."

"But wont dad get in trouble?" Aiko asked.

"No, he'll be fine. I just thought we should all go out today." Mello shifted his weigh onto his other foot, "After breakfast we can go where ever we want. Maybe the park or down town…"

"What about school?" Aiko still looked half asleep.

"I called your school and told them you caught the flu from Matt so you're excused for the day." Aiko jumped to her feet and ran to Mello with a big smile on her face, "Really? So we can just have fun today?"

"Look this is the only time I'm doing this and when you go back to school tomorrow you are getting all your missed assignments and finishing them, okay?"

Aiko hugged Mello tightly and repeatedly thanked him.

A day just for us… This could be fun. I looked back at my suit in the closet then grabbed my favorite striped shirt. Today could be fun.

After a very loud breakfast conversation we all decided to go to Disneyland. We took my car and Aiko got to sit up front and was our 'DJ' since she was controlling the music. Techno and Japanese music blasted from my badass car speakers the whole way there.

"Wow there not a single line for anything! Come on daddy, let's ride that mountain one!" Aiko ran ahead of us to the three-person line. I was about to run after her but Mello grabbed my arm. I looked back at him confused, "What?"

"We're telling her tonight." MY heart skipped a beat. Mello walked ahead of me to join Aiko in the line.

Tonight? It's only been a week sine that night she over heard us… No, the sooner we tell her the better… Right? I looked over to the Aiko as she hopped around.

"Matty!" I was pulled away from my train of thought as Aiko called me from the front of the ride, "What are you waiting for? Don't tell me your scared!"

I took a deep breath then glanced at Mello, he looked at me with a stern look. Pull it together Matt; it's not like your going to tell her right now. Lets just have fun today. "Me? Scared? Yeah right."

Aiko chuckled, "Then come on, we're next!"

I walked over to them with my hands stuffed inside my hoodies pockets. This was one of those sitting-on-someone-else's-lap rides. Aiko wanted to go by herself in the front so Mello was stuck sitting on my lap in the back cart. As soon as Mello finished fastening out seatbelt I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my forehead on his shoulder. He got the message and covered one of my hands with his.

Why was I getting so worked up over this? Why shouldn't I? I looked up to see Aiko staring at me. I smiled up at her, "Its cold." It wasn't a complete lie; it was a bit chilly at the moment. She seemed to believe it and smiled at me before turning back around.

I squeezed Mello's hand tightly. The blond turned to me and kissed the top of my head, "It's going to be okay. Relax and enjoy yourself." The words faded just as the ride shot us into top speed and we flew through tunnels and sharp turns.

"(o.o)"

"Man today was fun!" Aiko stated as she fell back onto a cold metal bench in Disney Square. Mello sat down next to her and smiled, "I'm glad you had fun."

Mello looked up at me for while before looking back at Aiko, "Aiko, we have to tell you something."

"Sure, what is it?" Aiko asked innocently. She doesn't deserve this.

"Do you remember that night when you over heard Matt and I talking in our room?"

She had such a good day today.

"Yeah…"

She doesn't have to hear this now.

"Well what did you hear?"

Not today.

"I have a deadly disease, right?"

My eyes widened. The words slipped from her mouth so smoothly and without hesitation. Wasn't she scared? Does she think she's dreaming?

Aiko looked at Mello then me and gave a sad smile, "Its called Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Did I say it right?"

Mello looked at Aiko with a confused expression, "How did you know?"

"I called the doctor that you two kept going to see. I found his card in your wallet and it had a number on it."

"When?" I asked, interrupting her.

"Two days after that night. I decided that I'd rather find out for myself them ask you two. Don't take that the wring way of course, I just thought…" Aiko trailed off into thought.

"You didn't want to hear it from us?" Mello suggested.

Aiko looked at Mello then nodded.

"Are you okay?" He asked calmer then he was before.

Aiko leaned back in the bench and thought about the question for a while. Disney music and the hum of people walking and talking around us filled the silence in the conversation. We both kept our eyes fixed on Aiko.

"I guess I'm okay with it." Okay with it?! "I think my purpose here might be done."

"Your purpose?" I asked.

"Yeah. Everyone on earth has a purpose to do before they die and I think mine is done. But… I wouldn't mind staying here for another ten or thirty years, it's fun being at school with my friends and coming home to you two."

Is this my daughter, a 15-year-old girl that's ready to hand her life over to death without a fight?

"What do you think your purpose was, Aiko?" Mello asked.

Aiko shrugged and stood up from the bench, "I'm not to sure. If I think of it I'll tell you." Aiko yawned and stretch.

"Lets go home. Its late." Mello said quietly getting up from the metal bench.

Aiko was so tired that I had to carry her to the car so she could rest her legs. She fell sleep in my arms and didn't even stir in her slumber when we put her in the back seat of my car. Mello closed the door after he covered her with his coat.

"We should have just told her sooner." I mumbled angrily as I leaned my back onto the car.

"Drop it." Mello growled as he threw me a glare.

"Don't start acting all pissy at me Mello this isn't my fault." I shot back at him.

"Oh and you think this is my fucking fault? How the hell was I suppose to know she was going to go through my crap? She probably learned that from you!" Mello yelled.

"Fuck you Mello! I was just as surprised as you were!"

Silence.

"Just take us the fuck home." Mello mumbled not looking at me.

I pulled the keys out of my pocket and tossed them to the floor in front of Mello's feet before turning and walking away. I went down five flights of stairs before stopping to pull out my pack of cigarettes from the back pocket. I placed it between my lips and lit it, taking a long drag.

I stood there until I finished my nicotine. He probably left me here already. I walked up the flight of stairs anyway and was surprised to see my car sitting in the exact same place I left it in. A blond in all black was sitting on the hood of the red vehicle with his head in his hands. I sighed before walking over to Mello quietly so he wouldn't hear me coming. He didn't notice me until I was directly in front of him. He looked up at me with puffy red eyes and fresh tears on his cheeks.

I inched forward and pulled him to me as I wrapped my arms around him tightly. He pushed against my chest in an attempt to separate us but I wasn't going to let him win. He never liked being comgetforted when he cried, which was rare.

"Let me fucking go Matt!" He yelled. He was crying again.

He tried to kick me and push me harder so he could get away.

"I love you Mello…"

"Fuck you Matt!" He shouted as he cried louder.

"I love you so much Mello, I'm sorry."

"Get the fuck away from me!" Mello's pushes and kicks got weaker.

"We can get though this Mello." His shoves and kicks slowly faded with every word that reached his ears, "It's going to be okay Mello."

The blond relaxed a little as he began to cry harder. I loosened up and let him wrap his arms around me tightly as he sobbed into my shoulder.

* * *

**I couldnt stop laughing when I wrote the part about Matt and Mello on the ride. I mean can you actually imagine Matt and Mello in a ride at Disneyland?! xD I almost couldnt get serious enough to write the last part, I had to put on depressing Matt/Mello music to get me in the mood lol-- ... anyway. review and you get a cookie :O**


	5. Just One Game

~Mello: Just One Game

I don't know when it happened but after that day everything went back to normal. Aiko insisted that she live a normal life for as long as she could. Damn, that sounds wrong. I blame Matt for raising such a fucked up kid. It's those damn video games.

"Dad, I'm home." Aiko announced as she stepped through the door. "God, I think the teacher at my school believe we have absolutely no life after school. They loaded us with homework!"

"Then start it." I stood up and stretched.

"Aw, come on! It's going to take me weeks to finish this…" Aiko pouted. She followed me into the kitchen and set her book bag onto the table. I opened the fridge and pulled out two juice boxes. Aiko has loved these things ever since she was about 8 years old. Normally I wouldn't be caught dead near one of these pink boxes but they grow on you.

"What do you have to do?" I handed her the juice box.

"Math, English, and biology. I have no idea what we're doing in biology." She groaned, accepting the juice box.

"I'll help you with biology, get your book out." I dragged a seat next to her and she smiled at me. She pulled out her big green biology book and slammed it on the table as she looked for her notebook.

"Anyone home?" Matt called form the living room.

"We're in here!" Aiko perked up. I think she likes Matt more than me. Don't see why though. Matt's a lazy ass that never does what I ask him.

"Guess what I got?" Matt teased walking into the kitchen; he was looking for something in a white bag.

I guess maybe it's because…

"Is that a GameStop bag?!" Aiko jumped out of her seat.

…they have the same interest.

Matt smirked as he continued looking through the bag. I sighed and tapped Aiko's pencil on the table.

"Ah-ha. Here it is!" Matt pulled out a box with random people with oversized weapons on the cover.

"No way! You got Final Fantasy: Crisis Core?!" Aiko leaped forward to grab the game but Matt pulled it away playfully.

"Who said it was for you? What if I got it or Mello?" Matt and Aiko laughed.

What the hell?!

I snatched the game out of Matt's hands, "Where are the groceries I told you to buy on your way home Matt?"

"Oh yeah… They're still in the car." Matt responded dumbly.

"The milk is going to spoil Matt. Go get them. Now!" I yelled. Matt pouted and turned back to the living room, grabbing his keys off the table before walking out the door.

I sighed, frustrated. I could see Aiko smiling at me from the corner of my eye.

"You have homework to do Aiko. You're not touching this until it's all done."

"But Mello, that not fair!—"

"Homework." I gave her a stern look.

Aiko took an angry breath and sat back down, throwing her book open. I looked at the game, examining it. What's so great about this crap? It's just a waste of time. I walked into the hallway closet and set the game on the top shelf. Aiko isn't tall enough to get it without me hearing her and Matt probably doesn't even know this room exist because he never cleans.

Aiko peeked out from the kitchen and into the hallway. I turned to look at her letting my weight shift onto the left leg. "What?"

Aiko stayed silent for a while before she finally answered, "Can you still help me with Biology?"

I closed the door and walked into the kitchen, sitting on the chair I flipped thought the pages of the biology book. "What page?"

Aiko smiled and skipped to her seat next to me flipping the book to page 206.

"_Aiko, you want to play a game?" Matt asked as he walked into the bedroom._

_I sat up on the bed, "Matt, Aiko's asleep. She stayed up all night doing that essay. Let her—"_

"_What game?" Aiko sat up, rubbing her eyes._

"_Go back to sleep, Aiko." I tried._

"_Wait, what game is it?" Aiko asked, looking at Matt._

"_You can create your own character and go around town doing task for people." Matt smiled,, reading the back description of the box._

_Aiko crawled out of the bed, "That sounds like fun! Can I play it right now?"_

_Matt looked at me and then followed Aiko's eyes. Why do I always end up being the bad guy?!_

"_Tch. Fine."_

_Aiko jumped up and down excitedly, "Yay!—"_

"_However!"_

_Aiko stopped and looked at me, "Aiko you can play but you will be going to bed early today."_

"_Okay." She smiled and ran into the living room with Matt._

_I grabbed the chocolate bar off the nightstand and ripped it open. Taking a big bit out of the corner I laid down. I could hear the playstation being turned on in the other room._

"_You okay?" Matt's voice drifted to my ears._

_I looked at him in the doorway and took another bite out of my chocolate._

"_Why are you mad? Its just one game." Matt stated as he walked over to the bed._

"_I am not going to have her mind be wasted on stupid games Matt." I shot him a glare and took another bite of the chocolate._

"_Don't worry, it's just one game. She probably wont end up liking it anyway. Its not like she's going to become a gamer or anything." Matt laughed._

Matt walked into the kitchen with the bags of groceries.

"Mello, can you help me with –OW! What the hell?" Matt rubbed the side of his head as my pencil fell to the floor.

"Just one game right Matt?"

Matt gave me a confused look, "Huh?"

**Hey everyone! …So, how have ya been? Heh.  
Okay here's the thing, I wasn't planning on finishing this because I just didn't want to and didn't think anyone really cared if it continued or not. I don't even know why I wrote this chapter –Oh yeah! That's right, I wrote it for you awesome people that commented 3  
By the way, here's your cookie: *****hands cookie*******

**I guess I'll continue it though. You know, since I'm already here.**


	6. First Step and Last

~Matt: First Step and Last

_Priii Priii Priii_

"Hello?" I held the phone up to my ear as best as I could. I was dead tired. Who would call at this time in the morning?

"Matt!" It was Mello. Sounds like he's out of breath… "Matt get the hell up. Aiko fell!"

"What are you talking about Mello?" I yawned, turning onto my back.

"Matt, Aiko fell down a flight of stairs!" I sat up shocked.

"What?! What do mean? What happened?" I got out of bed and stared pulling on my clothes.

"I dropped her off at school and was on my way home but then I got a call from the principle. Damn it Matt she's in the hospital." Mello's voice came to a whisper, "Matt she cracked her skull…"

She cracked her skull. How high does a flight of stairs need to be to cause that much damage? Why does a high school need that many steps? Why couldn't she want to go to a school that wasn't two stories tall?

"What hospital?" I shouted, accidentally of course.

"St. Francis Hospital." Mello breathed before he hung up the phone. He always got soft when shit happens to Aiko. Guess that's love…

I grabbed Mello's motorcycle keys off of the living room table and headed out the door. Mello takes my car to drop Aiko off everyday. Aiko would ask Mello every morning if they could take the bike. He always says 'no'. He complains that its not safe for her, yet he drives it around like crazy.

=============== ._. ===============

I ran to the front desk at the hospital with Mello's helmet in hand. The lady at the front desk had glasses and a high ponytail.

"Aiko Keehl Jeevas." I breathed out as Ms. Four-Eyes gave me a weird look. She turned to the computer and started typing.

"What did you do run here?" she joked. Not very funny.

"What room?!" I snapped.

"Geez, relax. I was only kidding. Room 410." She glared.

I couldn't care less. I ran to elevator and one arrived and hour later. Well it felt like an hour and the ride to the fourth floor seemed like forever. The room was at the end of the hall to my right. I pushed open the door and found a familiar blond sitting on a chair. He hid his face in his hands.

"Mello," I sighed and walked towards him, "Where is she?"

The blond hid his face with his hair as he whipped his eyes dry, "She's getting surgery. The doctor said is wasn't anything serious and that she'd be fine…"

"Then why are you crying?" I half laughed, relieved that Aiko would be okay.

"I'm not fucking crying!" Mello shot at me.

I rolled my eyed and pulled a chair up next to Mello's. "Okay, fine. You're not crying." I sat down next to him and leaned back. Mello hung his head and leaned on forearms. There was silence. Then I heard Mello sniff and I knew he was crying again.

"I've become so fucking weak ever since you brought Aiko home." He spat. "I'm the fucking mob boss, shit like this isn't suppose to screw me over. Nothing is!"

"Tch."

"What?" Mello raised his head and glared at me though glazed eyes.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah but you want to. Go ahead Matt, say it."

"God, you're not fucking weak Mello. Crying does not make you weak. If anything it makes you more human." I mumbled that last part but judging by the look on his face he heard it.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Mello stood up. "I'm not human? What makes me not human Matt? Huh? Tell me! I really want to know!" His sarcastic voice really pisses me off.

"Hm, I don't know Mello why don't we look back on our past, shall we? You fucking dumped me at Wammy's well you went off and played 'grow up'. Then two years later you show up and act like nothing happened, like you didn't just fuck over the best friend—The only friend that you ever had! Even during the times we were together you still treated me like shit! Then when I bring a fucking baby home you don't want any part in it! You treat it like its some deadly disease and want to get rid of it on the spot!" I smirk as I pull out my trap card, but deep down I know I shouldn't, "Maybe that's why Near always wins."

Mello grabbed my hair and threw me to the floor. He kneeled on top of me and started to swing. The first hit stung and the second one was bitter. I grabbed both oh his hand, one in mid hit and switched our positions. I pinned his arms down.

"Crying because she got hurt isn't a fucking bad thing. Its normal, so shut the hell up about it!" I yelled at him before getting up. I went to the mirror and looked at the damage Mello did; one bruise on my cheek and a cut lip. I turn to see Mello getting up. I pushed him hard so that he'd fall back down.

"What the fuck was that for?—" Mello stopped as he saw how bad my face looked. He quietly stood back up.

_Knock knock_

The door creaked open and some nurses and a doctor reeled in a bed. The doctor turned to Mello and me with a smile.

"Everything went well, she should be—What happened to you?" The doctor noticed the bruise and was now staring at me.

"Nothing. You were saying…?" I tried to act like it didn't hurt. Damn Mello had a good swing.

"Uh, yes. Aiko should be waking up anytime within the next hour. You can take her home when she does wake up. Though I do think that she is starting to loose her ability to walk correctly."

Mello moved up next to me, a worried look covering his face. We knew this would come sooner or later but we both hopped for later, much later. I grabbed Mello's hand and he grabbed onto my hand tightly.

"From not on I would like to have her take therapy. For now, once every week but as the illness spreads the sessions will become more frequent. Soon she will need a cane, walker, then a wheelchair to get around. You two live in an apartment building correct?"

I nod.

"Then I'd like for the two of you to keep a close eye on her and I encourage you to have her take the elevator instead of the stairs."

"Can she still go to school?" Mello perked up.

"Yes she can. Does she have friends that you can talk to? She just needs there to be some one near her incase something like tripping or missing a step doesn't lead to something this big again."

"We'll talk to her friends about it." I assured.

"Okay, great. Well that's it for now. Oh, she might get a few headaches later but you can just give her some painkillers and she'll be fine." The doctor checked his pager, "Well I've got to go. If you two have any questions please call me." He handed Mello a card.

After the doctor left Mello and I stood next to Aiko's bed, Mello still squeezing my hand.

"_Ngh, Matt…" Mello moaned as I grinned our hips together. I kissed my way down his chest and undid his belt quickly._

"_Matt," Mello breathed, "We cant, Aiko's—"_

"_Asleep in her room on the floor. She knocked out I finished playing with her remember?" I was now pulling off Mello's pants._

_Mello ran his hands up my chest, under the shirt. I quickly took off the stripped material and kissed Mello just above his bellybutton. Mello flinched and bit his lip. I smirked and kissed his forehead, "If you didn't want this then you shouldn't have teased me every second you got when you were 'cleaning house.'"_

_Mello smirked, "So you noticed?"_

"_Mello, you were wearing the tightest leather pants you own with no shirt on, practically grinding the table as you whipped it down and dropped the broom nine times. Yeah, I noticed."_

_Mello's smirk grew. I kissed him lustfully as images from earlier came back to mind. Just then I pulled out the only thing that classifies Mello as a man and started stroking it._

"_Ah! M-Matt…Ugh." The blond moaned beneath me. Mello started shivering when a little something caught my eyed. Aiko was walking toward us with her hand out in front of her and an expression of determination._

"_Why the fuck did you stop—" Mello saw Aiko walking toward us. We both stared in amazement as Aiko took her first steps toward us._

"_Is Aiko…"_

"…_walking."_

_Just then Aiko reached our bed and reached forward towards Mello's…thing. Then it hit us both that we were half naked and both had hard-ons._

"_Well then Aiko, don't you think its time for juice?" I asked pulling away from Mello quickly._

"_Y-Yeah, she looks like she wants some juice!" Mello nervously stated as he covered himself with a blanket._

I began to laugh quietly as I cried at the memory. My baby girl is taking her last steps when it feels like only yesterday she took her first.

After Aiko woke up, Mello drove her home on his mortorcycle.

* * *

**Late chapters, yes I know. I'm not good at writing if I make myself do it, so sorry :(  
Hope this chapter help though :D **


	7. Meoh!

~Mello: Me-oh!

"She's still in her room can you get her, Mell?" Matt asked me as he walked passed the bedroom.

I turned to my stomach and hugged my pillow. It's been a couple of days since we told Aiko she couldn't go to school anymore. She's using a wheelchair now and her speech is getting worse. There really isn't a point for her to go back there anyway, she should just stay here with us. I heard Matt walk back into the hall and his footsteps stopped in front oh our room's door.

"Mello come on get up, its already noon. Breakfast is ready." Matt mumbled.

I turned to look at him over my shoulder just as he placed a cigarette between his lips. I haven't seen that cancer stick near my redheaded lover since Aiko came home.

"What are you doing?" I glared tiredly. Matt simply looked up at me as he flicked a new lighter on and then placed the flame against the tip of the stick.

"I though you stopped smoking Matt?" I stated angrily.

Matt took a long drag from his cigarette and took it out, examining it. "Yeah well I also though Aiko was going to live long enough to see us die Mello. I guess shit happens."

I got off the bed and stomped toward Matt. I grabbed the cig and pressed the burnt end to Matt's hand. His scream ringed in my head like loud static.

"S-hn-stop!" a troubled voice came cleared my head. I turned to Aiko and let go of Matt's hand.

"Fuck Mello!" Matt yelled, holding his hand tightly as his foot made contact with my ribs. I hit the floor and Matt left the apartment angrily. I slammed my head against the wall.

_Thud._

Fuck.

_Thud!_

FUCK!

THUD—!

"Meh—Mer…" Aiko's hand was reaching out to me.

I looked up at her and took it. "What is it Aiko?"

Aiko looked like she was lost for words. She looked around the hall and then at me. She looked like she was about to cry as she tried to speak, "Meh…"

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Aiko cried from her room._

"_Mello, Aiko needs to be changed!" Matt yelled from the living room, playing his stupid games._

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

"_MELLO! She needs to be changed!"_

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

"_MELLO!"_

"_SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I roared._

_Silence._

"_Whaaaaaa!"_

_I walked to Aiko's room, making sure to slap the back of Matt's head on the way. I closed the door behind me and found Aiko in her crib crying. She opened her eyes when I looked into the crib; she looked up at me with a sad and watery face. I lifted her up and placed her on the changing table. She clapped her hand together as I washed her butt clean. I finished and set her on her feet, holding her up by her hands. Aiko stood still and faced me, smiling. She began to bounce up and down; it looked like she was doing squats. I smiled at her._

"_Me-oh!" she singed, "Me-oh! Me-oh!"_

_Was she saying my name?_

"_Me-oh! Me-oh! Me-oh!" she bounced._

"_Hey Matt, come here for a second!" I yelled to the closed door._

"_Me-oh!" Aiko laughed._

"_What?" Matt asked as he walked into the room._

"_I think Aiko learned her first word." I mumbled._

"_Me-oh!" Aiko smiled widely and bounced, "Me-oh!"_

""_Me-oh"?" Matt asked himself._

"_Me-oh, Mello." I explained._

"_Me-oh!" Aiko fell back onto her butt laughing._

"Me-oh." Aiko said. "Me-oh, geh up."

I stared at Aiko.

"Me-oh, go geh dahie." Aiko said.

I ran down the parks main path screaming Matt's name. I stopped to catch my breath and looked around. I caught a glimpse of Matt sitting on a bench staring out into space.

"Matt…" his name fell from my lips.

I walked towards him. I knew he head me calling his name. He probably knows I'm coming. Is he going to hit me? Is he going to yell at me? Will he leave before I get to him? This last though scared me. I ran towards him and grabbed him, wrapping his shoulders and chest. His scent, I fucking love his scent.

"Mail…" I whispered. Why was I so choked up? "I'm sorry…"

Matt's hand grabbed onto my arm. — His hand! I quickly grabbed Matt's hand and saw the burn I made. My eyes watered at the sight. I kissed his hand and placed it against my cheek. "I'm so—"

"Mihael, you really need to control your anger."

His words broke me. I ran around the bench so I was directly in front of Matt. I fell to my knees and grabbed my lover's hands. Matt laced our fingers together. he leaned forward and kissed me. Open mouth, tongue, everything.

* * *

**So yeah, cliff hanger I know. I might end the series in the next chapter or maybe two more then I'll end it. So get ready for that?**


	8. Her Final Chapter

~Matt: Her Final Chapter

After Mello came to get me we went back to the apartment. Aiko greeted us at the door. She had been waiting for us so that we could eat. Although it was more like lunch now… Maybe brunch? Aiko pulled my hand to her and she looked for something. She probably wants to see the burn but she was looking on the wrong hand.

"Here." I offered her my left hand and she took it slowly, she stared at the burn.

"Should we take you to the hospital?" Mello offered. He always was the type to be caring after he did something that he felt bad for. I shook my head, "Lets just eat. I'm starving."

Mello sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry babe. The foods cold."

I turned to Aiko, she still hand my hand in hers, and smiled. She smiled back at me and let go of my hand. I kneeled in front of her wheelchair, "You want to go out to eat?"

We ended up going to the restaurant down the street. Aiko loved eating there when she was little because the waitress that works there gave her free fruit bowls. Old hag still works there. You'd think that after at least ten years there she would think to move on in life. Then again everyone had a hard time moving on. I know I will when Aiko leaves.

"Earth to Matt!" Mello pinched my shoulder.

"Ow! What?" I rubbed the abused skin through my shirt.

"What do you want?"

I found that the waitress had already taken everyone's order except mine. Damn, I don't what to get… "Just hash brown with two eggs please, scrambled."

The lady nodded and walked away writing down the last of my order. I took a sip from a glass of water that sat in front of me on the table. Mello was on his phone yelling at one of those mafia guys that followed him. I turned to Aiko whom had the bendy straw in her mouth but wasn't actually drinking the milk in her glass. I nodded to Mello and twirled my finger around on the side of my head. Aiko laughed.

"Matt shut the fuck up I saw that!" Mello roared and continued yelling into the phone.

I turned back to Aiko and she was still smiling. The food arrived and Mello hung up the phone. I help Aiko eat her food but as always she wanted to do it herself. The doctor said that was good and we should encourage her but it get nervous sometimes when the spoon slowly goes towards her chin and not her mouth.

We finished our food and paid the tab. I took the wheelchair from Mello's grip and pushed Aiko outside the restaurant. The sun was high overhead and bright and lots of clouds. Perfect weather. I looked to my right and saw our apartment building. I looked to my left and saw everything else. Mello came out from the building finally and sighed, "Lets go home."

"Mello."

The blond turned around, "What?"

"Mell lets go this way." I nudged to the left.

"Come on Matt I got to work. Stupid people need guidance on the simplest things."

"Then you go to work and I'll go this way with Aiko." I turned Aiko's wheelchair to the left and began to walk.

"Hey, wait! So you get to hang out with Aiko all day while I go to work?" Mello yelled at us from the corner.

"Just ditch work. You can go later or tomorrow." I yelled back at him, not stopping. Honestly I did want him to come but nothing will come between that boy and his work. I shrugged it off and decided to not let it bother me. Then my skinny lover ran up next to me and started walking with us. I smiled to my self.

We spent the day walking up and down the streets and even had lunch in the park. We ran into some old friends of Aiko's from her school. Mello and I decided that we should head home before it got to dark. Mello made us all dinner and we put Aiko to bed. Mello and I watched the news before heading to bed ourselves.

"Today was fun." Mello admitted as he took off his shoes, sitting on the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, Aiko seemed happy to be out. We've kept her inside for so long." I said as I took off my shirt and jeans.

The two of us finished changing and got into bed. I leaned my head on Mello's shoulder as I began to fall asleep.

_I sighed as I pushed the liquor store door open. I walked down the candy isle with my hands comfortably in my pockets. I cleaned out the small box of the blonds' favorite type of chocolate then walked over to the cashier._

"_Will this be all?" The cashier asked already ringing the chocolate up._

"_A pack of cigarettes too." I mumbled pulling out my wallet._

"_Which kind?" The man turned to the case with different types of the cancer stick._

"_Surprise me."_

"_Okay that will be twenty-seven dollars sir." The man put the chocolate and cigarettes into a bag as I handed him the money._

"_Thank you, come again."_

_I grabbed the bag and left the store. I was walking down the busy street towards our apartment when a woman caught my eye. She was covered from head to toe in black and wore black sunglasses. She was carrying a baby wrapped in a red blanket. She turned into the ally way and disappeared from my sight. Curiosity got the better of me. I leaned back against the street lamp and light a cig from my new pack and waited._

_A good five to six minutes later the woman walks out of the ally way with her hands in her pockets. I followed her with my eyes until she disappears from my sigh once again. Pushing myself off of the lamppost I drop the cigarette to the floor and smother it with my boot. I casually walk across the sidewalk and into the alley. What I heard next caught my full attention._

"_Whaaaaa!" A small voice cried from the dumpster._

_I slowly walked over to the trash bin and peeked inside. A small baby lay wrapped in the same red blanket I saw before. I stood in front of the dumpster staring at the baby as it cried and cried. Soon the baby stopped crying and looked at me. The second those baby blue eyes met with mine, I was sucked in._

_/…[*]…\_

"_Matt. I sent you out for chocolate."_

"_Yeah, I got your chocolate."_

"_I know smart ass but usually when you go buy chocolate your not suppose to come home with a fucking baby!" Mello yelled, letting his hands curl into fist._

_I had the baby on the living room couch as I let it play with my fingers._

"_I wasn't going to just leave her there Mello. We're not all heartless like you." I kept his eyes on my guest._

"_Her? So it's a girl? That's just great. Do you have a name for it too?" Mello snatched up a chocolate bar from the plastic bag, ripping it open._

_I looked at the baby girl and thought for a moment, "…Aiko."_

"_What?" Mello asked with a mouth full of chocolate._

"_That's her name; Aiko." I smiled to myself as the girl laughed at the sound of the name._

_Mello stomped over to the couch the baby and I occupied, "Aiko?! Are you fucking kidding me?! You're not supposed to name it! When you start naming shit you get attached!"_

_I looked up at Mello for the first time since I came home with the baby, "Mello, lets keep her."_

_Mello stared at me expressionless, "Keep—You want to keep it? This isn't a fucking puppy you find on the street Matt!"_

"_I know, it's a little girl that's mother left her to rot in a trashcan. Aiko is a human being and I am not going to ignore this and put her back in that dumpster, Mello." I was not playing around._

_The baby cooed as she slammed her hands down on mine playfully, enjoying the new sound._

_Mello stared at me, glaring, trying to find something to say to make me give up and take her back. Nothing came to mind. "It stays for one night. After that you take it to hospital and let them worry about it."_

_I cracked a smile and stood up, grabbing my keys off the table and walking to the door. Mello bit into the chocolate, "Where are you going?"_

_I turned around with a big smile, "Aiko needs food." With that I walked out of the apartment._

"_Tch." Mello stared at then door then his eyes fell onto baby Aiko sitting on the couch staring up at him. "Try anything and you get a bullet through your head. Got it?"_

_Aiko laughed then fell back onto her back, rolling around on the dirty couch._

_/…[*]…\_

_I walked down the hall with a bag full of baby food and dippers in one hand and my keys in the other. Sorting out the right key for the apartment door I heard shouting and crying from inside the room. Worried I shoved the key into the doorknob and turned it._

_Mello held a gun to the baby's head as she cried loudly. Mello shouted threats to try and make her quiet down but none of them were working. Mello noticed me then aimed the gun at me, "Make her shut up! She's been crying for hours! Where the fuck have you been?!"_

_I quickly closed the door and put the bag down next the couch as I picked Aiko up, "What did you do her?!"_

_Mello lowered the gun, offended by the question, "I didn't do shit! One minute she's laughing and rolling around then she starts crying like she going to fucking die!"_

_I let Aiko rest her head on my shoulder as I rubbed her back lightly, "Shh. What did that mean Mello do to you?"_

_Mello glared at me then put his gun away. He watched me as I bounce slightly up and down as the baby quieted down. I continued to talk to her soothingly until Aiko stopped crying altogether._

"_How'd you know what to do?" Mello asked a little shocked._

_I turned around to face the blond, "Its something my mom use to do to me…" I placed Aiko down onto the couch as carefully as I could so I wouldn't wake her._

"_Don't make me take her to the hospital Mello." I asked softly as I kneeled next to the couch, watching Aiko sleep._

_Mello sighed, "Matt… We can't take care of her. You can't take care of her. It's too much work. They'll take good care of her at the hospital. —"_

"_No they wont. They'll just send her to an orphanage." I growled, remembering the horrible memories I had of orphanages I was sent to before Wammy's._

"_Tch. She'll be better off there. At least she'll be able to be adopted and raised normally. Do you really want her to be raised by a badass mob boss and a hacker?" Mello rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Besides it cost a lot of money to raise a kid—"_

"_I can take it out of my game money. I'll buy everything for her so you don't have to worry. I'll take care of her Mello, I promise." I pleaded, looking up at Mello sadly._

_Mello sighed and bit off a piece of his chocolate bar, "What happen to the days when I was enough? Fine. I'll give her a week trial! If anything goes wrong she's out the door."_

_I jumped up and hugged Mello happily, "Thank you Mello! You wont regret this, I promise!"_

_Mello groaned, kissed me lightly on my lips then pushed me away, "I'm going to bed."_

_I smiled as I watched Mello walk into our bedroom. I turned back to Aiko just as she opened her eyes and began to cry again. A gunshot fired thought the bedroom door._

_I laughed, "This is going to be a long week."_

"Matt! MATT!!"

I jumped up and looked around the dark room.

"MATT! Get Up Matt!!"

Mello was screaming from Aiko's room. Shit. I jumped off the bed and ran to the room. Mello held Aiko in his arms. Aiko.

"Matt, she's not breathing. Call the ambulance!" Mello yelled.

I ran to our room and searched for my jeans. Fuck! I found them on the floor in the closet and pulled out my phone. 9-1-1.

"Hello, please state your emergency."

"My daughter isn't breathing! She has spinocerebellar ataxia. Please, we need am ambulance now!"

"Okay sir, please calm down. What is your address?"

"Just trace the fucking call!" I yelled into the phone before tossing the phone onto the bed without hanging up. I ran back to Mello who now had Aiko in the living room.

"What did they say?" Mello asked worried.

"Fuck it we're taking her!" I grabbed my keys and we rushed to my car without closing the door behind us.

Just before we got to the car the ambulance pulled up in front of the apartment building. They took Aiko and placed her on a bed. They pushed Mello and I away so that we wouldn't get in the way. They ripped her shirt open and tried shocking her heart.

"3, 2, 1, clear."

_Zzzzzzt_

"Nothing. Again! 3, 2, 1, clear!"

_Zzzzzzt_

Aiko died around 2:35am on September 5th 2009. Aiko's death was caused by choking on her own saliva. Mello and I will start funeral arrangements in a week.

* * *

**Well thats it! The end. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for sticking with me though it all even though I'm bad at spelling :) Might be a "Funeral" chapter later on, who knows?**


	9. Bonus

~Mello

Matt and I had decided on a small funeral, just the two of us and a priest. We figured it would be easier this way, for the both of us. So I was a bit pissed when there was a crowd of people standing before us.

I stared at the crowd that stood around Aiko's final resting place. I turned to look at Matt who met my gaze. "You told them."

"I only told the principle, I didn't think he'd tell the whole world." Matt shrugged.

I smacked Matt's arm.

"Ow!" Matt complained.

The crowd of people then turned around to face us. Shit. I cleared my throat and walked towards the crowd. They split open giving Matt and me a path to the front where the priest stood and Aiko's coffin laid. Matt followed me to the front. I looked over both of my shoulders. Why the fuck is there this many people? Half of them probably only saw her on the street and don't even give a shit.

"Mello, you ready?" Matt whispered into my ear.

I glanced up at him, looked around at everyone one more time, and then nodded.

The priest began the ceremony and I could hear people sniffing behind me. I kept my gaze low and focused on Aiko's coffin. It's really cold. Aiko hates the cold; she'd always cuddle close to me when we're watching TV and at night I'd make sure to leave and extra blanket on her bed. I looked around, there are so many faces but none of them are hers. I need to see her.

"Now, does anyone have something to say about Aiko?" The priest smiled at us all.

A girl to my left stepped forward. She looked familiar. She turned to Matt and me. She looked so devastated.

"My name is Alice. I never got to really meet you two but I'm Aiko's best friend."

She's one of the girls we met at the park.

"She was a really good friend. She was always there when I needed her even at times when it was incontinent for her. One thing I really remember about Aiko is that she really loved you Matt and Mello. She always told me stories about you two. I know you two already know that Aiko loved you but I just wanted to make sure you knew how much. Thank you for taking care of her—"

She stared to sob.

Matt walked over to her and hugged her. He was talking softly to her as she began to cry more. When they separated Alice turned to me and walked over. She wrapped her arms around my torso. She was Aiko's height and they had the same hair. I wrapped my arms around her. I couldn't hold back. This girl is the closest person I have to Aiko.

"I miss her, Mello." She sobbed, "She was such a good person."

I hugged her tighter, "I miss her too."

I pulled her away a bit so that I could look at her.

"But she's gone now."

This isn't Aiko.

She tried to dry her cheeks and shook her head, "She's not gone Mello. She's living within all of us. She's watching over us in heaven because there's no way she'd leave us all alone. Especially you Mello, she loved you so much."

I felt Matt's hand on my back. I looked around at all the people standing and crying. Everyone here holds a piece of Aiko.

Matt turned to everyone, "If Aiko were here she'd probably hit everyone for crying. She was always smiling but I'm sure you all know that. I just want to thank you all for coming and showing your love for Aiko. And I think this is how it should be. Aiko showered us all with her love in the past and now its time that she gets it back."

/_=_+_=_\

I opened the door to our apartment. I stared into the dark living space. I walked in as the couch caught my eye. I placed my arm on the dirty fabric and dragged my hand across the top. I lifted my gaze to the room again. It was quiet.

"It was nice that everyone came." Matt voice was a small mumble but it broke through the silence that surrounded me. I nodded in response.

Matt walked over to me slowly. Ours eyes met when he reached for my hand. I laced our fingers together and looked at him again. We knew we'd have to go in at some point. It was a healthy way to overcome her death right? He haven't entered the room since the night she died… This is going to be hard.

"Ready?" I asked quietly.

Matt looked down the hall that led to the bedrooms and took a deep breath. I tightened my grip on his hand as I lead us to her bedroom door. I grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. The afternoon sun peeked through the red curtains on the window. The beam of light lay over Aiko's bed brightly as if she was still here, sitting, waiting for us. Matt walked deeper into the memory of her. He turned on the stereo that sat on Aiko's desk.

_Now you say you're lonely  
You cry the whole night through  
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river  
I cried a river over you_

The slow beat filled the room as Julie London sang. I stepped towards the bed and sat on it gently as if not to wake her from her dreams like I use to do when I couldn't sleep.

_Now you say you're sorry  
For being so untrue  
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river  
I cried a river over you_

"I remember this song." Matt stated as he stared at the stereo. "I remember her singing it while she was cooking one night. She couldn't hit the high notes."

I smiled. She liked to sing even though she was never really good at it. "She was shy about it though. I'd open the front door as she was on the couch singing her heart out. She stopped as soon as she noticed me."

The song changed. A happy piano began to play.

_The story is over  
But sometimes it's under  
Which makes me just smile and wonder_

_I float down the river  
Of freshly-made hot tea  
Till the future is far behind me_

_Here comes the boy with the butterfly eyes  
Who can sing like the birds in the bubble gum trees  
I hear him sing  
That the sun will not rain today—_

It stopped. I turned to Aiko's desk to find Matt's finger on the off button. This was their song, Matt and Aiko's. He'd sing it to her when she had nightmares or when they were together and he wanted to make her smile. It always made her smile.

"Matt?" I leaned my arms on my knees.

Matt looked down then at me and smiled, "She loved that song."

I smiled back at him, "She did."

Matt looked down at Aiko's desk and studied it. I stood up and walked to her bookshelf. She didn't like to read much but she still managed to fill all six shelves. Comics, books she had to read for school, a couple books she read on her own, DVDs, and games.

"Hey Mello."

I turned and saw Matt reading something on Aiko's computer. Leave it to a hacker to break into his daughter's computer. "What is it?" I walked over to him and red it over his shoulder:

_Dear Matt and Mello (aka Daddy and Mommy),_

_By the time you find this I will have probably died from my disease. If not then that means you're looking through my things. If that's so then come on! You can trust me. Anyway, I have decided that when God takes me away you guys won't be ready to go though the sudden change so I'm going to leave behind this virtual notebook. I will write in here every morning just incase something happens during the day and I cant continue writing in here. I know soon I will not be able to speak or write or even type so sorry if the entries start to get short._

_Getting onto the actual entry for today: How are you guys doing? I don't know how long its going to take Matt to go through my computer but I hope its not to long after my death. Its kind of weird talking about when I'm going to die, I mean aren't we suppose to just live life and then let God decide that day he wants to take us? Knowing that I'm going to die soon kind of makes me wonder if God wanted me to die of this disease and if so then why at my age? I'm pretty young don't you think? Does this mean I've done what God wants me to do on earth? I don't think I've done anything special… You never know though, maybe I'll do something amazing just before I die like cure cancer or solve world hunger! Well, did I? Yeah I guess I didn't… Oh well._

_I like to think that when I go to heaven that God will be there waiting for me on a big couch like ours, nice and comfy. He'd call me over and I'd sit on his lap and he'd ask me: "So Aiko, what did you do while you were on earth?" and I'll tell him about all the things I learned on earth like how to count and spell and make friends and to cook. Then he'll laugh at all the stories I have to tell and all the jokes I learned that aren't dirty. Duh, I am going to be talking with God. Then I'd tell God about you two. I'd tell him about how you saved me and loved me till the last seconds we spent together. I'd tell him about Mello's grumpiness and Matt's awesome gamer skills. Then I'd ask him to bless you two and have patience. I wonder if he'd be mad at me for not going to mass every Sunday? I hope not. I wish the three of us could have gone to mass together with you two in tuxedos and me in a pretty dress. I think God would have liked that._

_Well I have to go, you two are fighting about something in the kitchen. Time for me to save the day and end all the violence!—oh! Maybe I will end all the wars and hate before I die! That would be nice._

_~Lots of Love, Aiko._

There was silence again. I stood up straight and looked away from Matt. These tears couldn't be held back. I cried. I could hear Matt crying at Aiko's desk too. I turned back to him and rubbed his shoulder to try and comfort him. He broke down, and then I broke down. We cried for what seemed like years before we could calm down.

"How many did she write?" I asked, drying my cheeks.

Matt pulled up a window with a single folder titled "For Matt and Mello" then clicked it. Dozens of word document icons appeared on the screen with dates. We scanned through the whole list. She began writing the journal entries shortly after we told her about the disease and stopped writing it the morning before she died.

"Mello, what time is it?" Matt asked pulling out his cell phone.

"Why?" I sniffed.

Matt turned to look at me with his big brown puffy eyes, "Lets go to mass."

"You want to go to mass?" I questioned. Matt was never one for religion. I knew he didn't hate it but he definitely didn't practice it.

"We're in tuxes. Lets just go. They have Saturday masses too right?" He sounded hopeful.

"Going to mass and praying to God isn't going to bring her back Matt—"

"We're not going to mass to bring her back, we're going to mass to grant her wish. This is what Aiko wanted Mello. Lets do this for her." Matt explained. "She probably has a lot of things that she wanted to do but didn't get a chance to do written down in these entries. Come on Mello, lets grant all of her wishes as a final goodbye."

"Matt… I'm fine with going to mass but I don't think Aiko left behind her journal for us to go around the world like idiots eating pizza from Italy because she wondered how it tasted like one morning." Was he going insane?

"So you don't want to do this because you don't want to look like an idiot? You're so stupid and selfish Mello! Even when she was alive you never wanted anything to do with her!"

"Don't you fucking dare Matt I loved Aiko just as much as you did!—"

"But you never showed it!" Matt roared over me. "You never held her hand when we crossed the street, you never comforted her when she was stressing over stupid shit—"

"Because it was stupid!—"

"Not to her!" I've never seen Matt this mad. He's got some major balls to talk to me like this. "When she needed you, you weren't there! God Mello I cant believe how stupid you are sometimes."

"Don't give me that shit. I never got a chance to show her how much I loved her because I had to be the adult all the fucking time! You were her best friend Matt and it fucking sucks to know that she loves you more than me. So fuck you Matt!" I clenched my fists and stormed out of Aiko's room. I grabbed the keys to my motorcycle and left.

/_=_+_=_\

An hour later I found myself in front of a church. I stood at the bottom of the steps that lead into the building. I dropped my gaze and mumbled, "I'm sorry it couldn't be all of us Aiko…"

I kept my head down as I walked up the steps. When I reached the door I looked up and pushed the wooden door open. The mass had already started but the church was less than half full. I looked around to find an empty row but found a redheaded man sitting on a bench by himself near the back. Everyone stood for the Gospel; I took this as my chance to sneak into Matt's row. I stared straight forward but I could tell Matt was surprised to see me. The priest finished up and we sat for the homily. I wasn't paying attention to the priest when Matt nudged my side.

"What is he talking about?" Matt whispered.

I started listening to what the guy up front was saying and recognized the story, "He's talking about a guy named Job. He was a faithful catholic and was pretty wealthy so the Devil and God decided to have a contest. The Devil took away all the guys treasures and then they waited to see if in the end he was still faithful to God."

"Gods pretty fucked up." Matt commented, "So did he still believe in God?"

I glared at an old lady that was staring at us for talking in mass, "Yeah he did."

"So did God give him back all his stuff?" Matt seemed interested.

"No. I believe Job lived a hard life after that and was rewarded in heaven." It's been a while since I've heard that story but I'm pretty sure that's how the ending went. Besides its not like Matt would know.

"'Rewarded in Heaven.' Sound like bull to me. I mean what does that even mean?" Matt sat up straight in his seat.

I glanced at Matt then looked up at the giant dying Jesus on the wall behind the priest, "It means that when we die and reach the gates of Heaven God wont pull the ground out from under us and send us down to hell for eternity. It means that when we die and see God for the first time He will invite us in and sit us down on a big comfy couch and ask us 'What did you do while on earth?'"

/_=_+_=_\

By the time we got out of mass the sun was still high up in the sky. I looked around to find Matt's car but didn't see it anywhere. Matt must have noticed because he put his hands in his pockets and said, "I didn't bring the car."

I looked at him questionably, "You walked here from the apartments?"

Matt gave a small nod.

I sighed and walked up to my bike. I swung my leg over and began to put on my gloves. Matt was watching me. I finished and turned on the motorcycle, I could feel it vibrating under me. I sat up straight, "You coming?" I looked forward, "We still have to find Aiko's next wish."

Matt smiled and walked over to the bike. He got on and put his arms on my hips, this made me smirk. I revved the bike up and shot down the street. I headed home to Aiko's room where her journal to us was with all her wishes.

* * *

**Incase you didnt understand it, there is going to be a sequal. I havent gotten to makeing the first chapter for that yet but dont worry it'll be up soon. Thank you for reading!! (I can finally put this one to rest D: xD)**


End file.
